Fantasy Friday: Quest - Chapter Thirteen

Twelve Shadoaresses filed out of the temple at the midpoint, six coming from each side. They met in the middle and proceeded down the steps, two by two.  

The first ten each held a basket in each hand, each basket full of fire stones havested from The Pit; they would burn twice as long and twice as hot as the same stones found anywhere else on Isiterra. The last two Shadoaresses each carried a rake. 

2021: Day Six

*Update: 1/2/22 -This post was originally written and scheduled late night on Jan. 4th 2021 to publish on this blog on Jan. 6th 2021, without any prior knowledge of what was to occur. 

Fantasy Friday: Quest - Chapter Eleven

Happy Friday, Dear Reader! I do hope this week finds you well. I'm back with another chapter of Quest of No Return help distract you (I hope)  from this crazy time in our world. 

Just a forewarning, this draft is rough. I will update it at a later time, but to keep the story moving, I need to move on to the next chapter for now. Does that make sense? I think it does, but, then again, it's 3 am  as I put this post together. Yeah..

So without anymore nonsensical babble, I give you Chapter 11.... 

*****

A horn blared, and the first group of hunters were released into the forest. The second group took their places on the lawn to wait for the second horn. Aria waited at the table with the others.

Did you manage to learn anything else today? Aria asked Taura and Ziliena.

Yes, Taura replied. They believed her family was killed by our father's brother.

Fantasy Friday - Quest: Chapter Ten

Happy Friday, friends and fellow fantasy lovers! Hoping you're still coping with these strange times....

I almost didn't make it here with Chapter Ten this week. Sleep is essential for my brain to piece words together coherently, and I've been having a terrible time falling and staying asleep the last few weeks. So, I hope you can ignore the typos, I will fix them later!

If you're new to Isiterra, you can catch up with all of the chapters here.

******

Aria lay awake with Hunter stretched out along her side. Her mind was too busy making plans for the hunt to let sleep creep in.

Though she wasn't keeping track of the time, she did notice the light outside changing colors as twilight drew near. Hunter, you awake? She gave him a gentle nudge.

His tail thumped twice on the bed. Is it time to eat?

Yeah. If we hurry, we can save the girls the trip up here.

I'm waiting on you. He jumped from the bed and sat facing the door while Aria dressed.

She pulled on her boots, but didn't lace them up. Do you think I'll need my coat?

I'm planning to wear mine.

Fantasy Friday: Quest - Chapter Nine

Happy Friday! I hope you've been well since your last visit. This week, I present Chapter Nine of Quest of No Return.... (If you need to catch up on the previous chapters, you can find them here.) *** Already familiar with the lands to the west of Iselos, Aria decided to wander south. The terrain was steeper, By Free Photos at Pixabay rockier, and gave way to sudden drop offs at the edge of narrow ravine. A faded, but familiar scent of Malorian blood was ever present. So this is where they thrive.

Fantasy Friday: Quest: Chapter Five

To view previous chapters, click here.

Chapter Five


Taura rose before dawn the next morning, and set out for the stable. Ziliena's plan better work, she thought to herself as she saddled Illiz. "All set, girl?" Illiz nodded in response. Taura mounted the horse and took the reins. "Let's go home and get Aria. You know the way!"

***

Aria was surprised when Aerodar announced Taura was spotted on her way home. "That was fast," she muttered.

She would have sent word if anything was wrong, he rationalized.

"Yes, she probably would. Unless she couldn't."

#FantasyFriday - Quest: Chapter Two

Quest of No Return

Chapter Two

Taura looked to where Aria pointed; a large patch of choppy, churning water on what was otherwise a sea of glass, moving deliberately toward the sailboat. 

Though Aria knew Corvin or Serranna were too far away to hear the anything but the screams from her mind, she yelled to them. "Danger starboard! Come on!" She jumped up and down, waving her arms. "Steer to port! To port!"

Hello 2017!

It didn't really feel like a New Year until Monday. It bothers me when January 1st falls on a Sunday, because then they go and push the Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl to Monday the 2nd, and it just throws me off. Sorry. It's tradition.

Ten years ago, right about now....

(This post is part of The Shadow Watcher, ten years later, read along...)

In real life, ten years ago, I was a busy mom of a fifteen month old, a restaurant manager, and scribbling away what words I could between diaper changes, feedings and shifts at work. The first story sparks for the Society in the Shadow of Civilization wouldn't come to me for a few more years. But is the tenth anniversary of where that story begins. Or, Sam's telling of it, anyway.

Ten years ago, right around this time, Samantha Marquet would be finishing up writing an assignment from one of her clients before heading out to run some errands. It wasn't a great day, getting a rejection email from a magazine first thing in the morning and dealing with a rude client later, she was in a pretty bad mood. Until her visit with Mr. Zhou at the bookstore. From there, it just got weird....

And, it will only get weirder in the days and weeks that follow! If you don't have your copy of The Shadow Watcher yet, get it free now, and join me in retracing Sam's journey, ten years later!

Amazon (US, UK, AU & CA) Kindle edition*
Barnes&Noble.com Nook edition
iTunes iBooks edition
Kobo
Smashwords all ebook formats

Check back later tonight for a Midnight Rambling on what was Sam thinking!?!?!?

As always, thanks for stopping by! Hope you're having a beautiful day, night, or sometime in the between....

Roari

Happy Groundhog Day! (Thank you, Phil. We'll take an early Spring, happily....)

It's been quiet in my little corner of the webiverse lately. Okay, more like silent. Except for the choir of crickets singing. Do you hear them? Oh, and the wind from this last storm system howling like a rabid pack of wolves for the last three days - that was exciting.

Snow blew in with the pack for about forty-five minutes Sunday. It wasn't cold enough to stick, but just enough to run around in and have fun with the kids. It also brought a mountain of tumbleweeds to our backyard, which was not as much fun. (Picture this multiplied by ten.)

The Novica Christmas Parade

The Christmas Parade was last night, and I missed it! It's not always easy to get down there for these things, especially when I make so many other trips down for family events during the holidays. Hopefully we'll make it next year.

Novica is based on my hometown. It's not an exact replica, though one commonality is the annual Christmas Parade, traditionally held the first Saturday of December. And, because Sam loves her hometown as much I do, and the timing was right, the parade made its way into A Shadow in Doubt. Since I missed out on the festivities this year, I decided I'd share Sam's version of the '06 parade with you....  

November News: Aliens and an Interview

November? Already? Where did this year go? It's day six of NaNoWriMo, but only my third day of writing. I'm close to hitting par for day three though, and I'm about to dive back in...after I write a quick post...

The idea for this year's attempt came to me a while ago. All I really did with it was write some notes about the two main characters, and a few paragraphs of a scene. Then I tucked it away in my treasure trove of story sparks,

Ready for #NaNoWriMo?

It's almost that time of year again - when writers around the world gather together for the greatest event known to man, er, um, writers - National Novel Writing Month, a.k.a. NaNoWriMo.

Happy Escape Day!

August 5th, 2169 is when is all began ... The night two strangers appeared on the moon, and told Dr. Samuel Marks what he already knew, he and accomplices must flee the Colony before the govenment discovers his project - the Flamella tree. But, there's only one way to keep it from the U.C.E.; they must Escape 2169....

Fore Shadows is a Society in the Shadow of Civilization short story - both prequel and sequel to The Shadow Watcher. It's available free from:
Amazon (US & UK) http://bit.ly/10yV0XL     
Smashwords http://bit.ly/Smash2169
iTunes http://bit.ly/iTunes2169 

B &N http://bit.ly/Nook2169 

Spring Ballet Season - Beauty and the Beast

It is time to start getting excited! "Beauty and the Beast" will be coming to 4 beautiful theaters near you, April...
Posted by Inland Pacific Ballet on Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Final Front Cover Art, and First Chapter!

Time is capricious.

Sam's story continues - look for the first chapters on or Writing.com!

Midnight (and then some) Ramblings

I'm sitting here, thinking strange things, then thinking I should write a blog post about them, and then I realized my mind can be a very strange place - I'm not sure I should blog about it. (This is not the first time I've had this realization, I just intentionally forget about it every time.)

Tonight's ponderings? Give yourself a high five if you guessed time-travel! Yes, I'm re-weaving threads of time in A Shadow of Doubt, again, which is the cause for delay. Future Sam and Michael made me see the problem in the sequence of events, so I'm using them to help fix it.

But then my mind wandered off (it does that) to a conversation I had with the Love of My Life (or LOML) earlier, which we've had before, and was somewhere in the mess of inspiration behind the Society in the Shadow of Civilization, about the first time travelers (presumably) from the future.

I know, we talk about weird stuff. But, really, if you stop and think on it, eventually, if it is possible, time travel will become reality. So, theoretically, if it is invented in the future, Travelers have already been to the past - or are here among us in the present. Let's just go with the idea it might be possible....

Now, what if the prophets of our past (yours and mine), such as Nostradamus, were, in fact, Travelers from the future who either couldn't get back, never planned to, or for whatever-other-reason stayed where they landed. Well, that would explain how they knew things, wouldn't it?

And yes, we've gone through a Nostradamus phase before - some of his quatrains are just too on to be coincidence, but then there are those that aren't. Ah, but what if things changed because he came back and wrote them? Or other Travelers came back to change those events in an effort to discredit him to future generations?

Or, (potential plot hint) what if someone from the future came back to take the place of one of said prophets, to change the prophecies, or use their power to influence a change over the future. I'm not saying this is part of the U.C.E.'s plan ... but it might be.....

I could keep going, but, it's late. So, on that note, I leave you. (And come back to finish posting the next day, lol!)

I hope you're having a beautiful night, morning or afternoon, wherever you may be!
Roari


(Photos: all-free-download.com)

Character Interview: Samantha Marquet

Today, I share an interview with Sam, catching up with her on what's happened since The Shadow Watcher, before A Shadow in Doubt....


Q: When we left you at the end of The Shadow Watcher, you were in kind of a strange place, wouldn't you say?

Sam: My apartment?

Q: No, I mean, emotionally.

Sam: Strange is a nice way of putting it. (smiles) Honestly, if not for Artemis keeping me connected to reality, I might convince myself it was all a dream. She's helped me keep my sanity.

Q: Some people might consider your relationship with your cat crazy....

Sam: You mean some people think I'm a crazy cat lady?

So, how did your NaNoWriMo go?

Now that I'm caught up on sleep, and my fingers are rested, I'm ready to talk about November....

This was my sixth year participating in NaNoWriMo, and my second win (barely).  Each year, time is the biggest factor working against me. Last year, I realized time is always working against us, so I needed to stop making excuses. It was still a struggle, but in a desperate burst of defiant and insistent typing, I pulled out 9600 something words from mid afternoon on the 28th to five am on the 29th.  I don't recommend it, but I was determined to finish, and finish I did.

When I sat down with my candy stash just after midnight November 1st this year, I didn't know what I was writing.  I wrote something, scrapped it a day later, wrote something else, scrapped that too.  In a panic, I started surfing the net, and came across something that make me think of an old idea, so I turned it into something new and ran with it.

Catching up and staying just ahead of the daily goal into the second week, I thought this year would be a breeze.  Then, somewhere I lost it. I sat and stared at the screen. My goal of finishing before turkey day was a joke by the 20th. And then it was midnight on the 28th, and I still had over 20,000 words to go....

Once again, the love of my life came through in my hour(s) of desperation, and after my Black Friday trips to Home Depot to supply him with projects for the weekend, he and the kids hung out in the yard while I sequestered myself to do something I didn't think would be possible. And yet it was.

It still doesn't have a name, and it's a rough, ugly draft, but it's just over fifty thousand words, so it counts. And I'm excited about it! It's a stand-alone YA fantasy novel involving a young woman who is tormented through nightmares controlled by a dark elf seeking revenge against her grandfather for stealing the source of his power.  Her grandfather sent the elf away when she was young, and her nightmares ended, leaving her to believe his stories were just that - nothing more than fairy tales.  Now, with her grandfather gone, the elf has found a way to return. A mysterious, flirtatious boy starts working with her at the restaurant just as others at school begin having nightmares, too. As students start disappearing, she realizes there is much more to the fairy tales of her childhood than she ever imagined.

(And no, I'm not talking about Santa's little helpers here, or Elrond's kin, these elves are different....)

I think part of my mid-month writing slump was due to all of the fantastic stories I was finding in my research - I kept getting off topic. It's not one of my better habits. In the end, I wrote something closer to seventy thousand words for the month, counting my first scrapped ideas - the scraps I may or may not save for later ;)

With that said.... I'm back to the final polish on last year's novel - A Shadow in Doubt. I hope you're having a beautiful day!

Roari


(Photos from all-free-download.net)

Time to Escape 2169

Fore Shadows: Escape 2169 by Roari Benjamin

Check Phase 1 of the Fall 2014 plan off my list -
Fore Shadows: Escape 2169 is now available!

This free 5400 word (approx.) short story is part of the Society in the Shadow of Civilization Series - both a prequel and sequel to The Shadow Watcher - told from Samuel's point of view instead of Sam's.  My initial goal was to keep it under three thousand words, and it got close to seven at one point, but I trimmed it back down.

If you haven't read The Shadow Watcher yet, you won't be lost, but you may get some spoilers ;) The events in Escape 2169 are some of the most important in the series, and it's been screaming to be written for some time, but it's also a stand-alone story.  As tempted as I am to write full length novels about Samuel, it's not part of the plan, right now.  More short stories are coming though, I've already started two. 

At the moment, the mobi, epub and pdf formats are available - for free - at Smashwords.  (Distribution to the iTunes and Nook stores will take a day or so.  The Kindle version is live, but it's priced at 99¢ until the price-match goes into effect, I'll update this post once that happens.)  And, don't forget to check out The Shadow Watcher - now just 99¢ in the Kindle Store.

I hope you'll enjoy reading this glimpse of Samuel's world as much as I enjoyed writing it.  Have a beautiful day!

Roari